September 6, 2018: On early Thursday, a powerful earthquake rocked Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido triggering landslides that crushed homes, knocking out power and forcing a nuclear power plant to switch to a backup generator.

Reportedly, at least two people were killed when the magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck southern Hokkaido at 3:08 a.m. at the depth of 40 kilometers (24 miles), as per reports. The epicenter was east of the city of Tomakomai but the shaking buckled roads and damaged homes in Hokkaido’s prefectural capital of Sapporo, with a population of 1.9 million.

The Japanese national broadcaster NHK, citing its own tally, reported that 125 people were injured and nearly 40 are feared missing. Hokkaido’s local disaster agency put the number of injured at 48.

Several people were reported missing in the nearby town of Atsuma, where a massive landslide engulfed homes in an avalanche of soil, rocks and timber.

Aftershocks were continuing Thursday morning, and could pose a risk for the next week, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency, which warned residents of the increased risk that buildings could collapse near the epicenter of the original quake.

Thursday's earthquake comes as much of Japan is still dealing with the effects of Typhoon Jebi, the strongest such storm to hit the Japanese mainland in 25 years.